La Alborada

By Antonio De Jesús Aguado

On Friday, October 27, the annual celebration in honor of St. Michael the Archangel started at 8pm in the Jardín, where a variety of musical groups played wind instruments, traditional music from northern Mexico, and, of course, mariachi music. The gathered crowd eagerly awaited the Alborada (Dawn).

At 2am on Saturday, the booms and lights of rockets announced that the processions were on their way to the Parroquia of San Miguel Arcángel from Calzada de la Estación, Calzada de la Aurora and Salida a Querétaro. At 3am the processions arrived at the corner of Hidalgo and Canal and formed a contingent that circled the Jardín carrying giant colored stars announcing the dawn, crosses, moons and torches, accompanied by mojigangas and lots of music.

At 3:30am the guard of the Parroquia opened the door and allowed the group of around 70 coheteros (men who fire off the rockets and fireworks) to enter. In the Jardín the crowd was excited and yelled for the fireworks to begin, but the coheteros were not ready until 3:50am, when they gathered to pray. At 4am everybody took their posts and the Alborada started. Some fireworks exploded on the floor next to the coheteros, but that did not stop the hour and fifteen minutes of light and color.